The Harry Potter series is coming to an end with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 releasing next week. While the Harry Potter franchise spread over a decade, it has netted box-office collections that may not easily be rivalled by any another franchise. But the production of Harry Potter films has not been easy. In fact, the Harry Potter films, collectively, may just be the most expensive and expansive franchise ever.
Koimoi.com brings you some of the lesser known facts about the films:
Daniel Radcliffe has been through 160 pairs of glasses during the shooting of all the Harry Potter films. He also wore out 60-70 wands during the making of the films.
Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, once got a fruit bat stuck in his beard during a scene in Hagrid’s hut. Robbie Coltrane once got a mini-fan caught in his Hagrid beard and had to have it cut out.
Harry’s infamous scar has been put on by makeup approx 5,800 times. This is not only on Daniel Radcliffe, who has had the scar applied approx 2,000 times, but also on his doubles and stunt doubles, all of whom wear the scar.
Dumbledore’s chair was inspired by the throne in Westminster Abbey.
588 sets were created for the Harry Potter films.
Hagrid’s Hut was taken down at Leavesden and transported and rebuilt 2000 ft. up a mountain in Scotland for scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
A 1/3 miniature of The Burrow was created just to be burnt down, when Death Eaters set it on fire in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It took 14 weeks to make, and 6 minutes to burn down.
40 versions of Salazar Slytherin’s locket had to be created to accommodate Ron and Harry’s failed attempts to destroy it.
To keep brooms light-weight and aesthetically, aircraft-grade titanium is employed in their structure.
900 Memory Vials were made for the cabinet in Dumbledore’s Office, 250 paintings for the Marble Staircase and 2,10,000 coins for the Gringotts bank scene for the final two films alone.
Producers David Heyman and David Barron were immortalized in portraits for the Marble Staircase.
Every wand that you see in any of the Harry Potter films is created on-site. No two wands are alike… not even the Weasley twins’!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Trailer
The tables and benches were all specifically made for the film and end to end would span 400 feet with a further 800 feet of benches. The tables were made of pine with an oak top and then distressed using chains and axes to appear old (although the children have helped with the aging process over the years.) Over the years, the children have added their own graffiti, which Stuart Craig has encouraged, as this would happen at all schools!
Behind the Professor’s top table is the house points system. Each hour glass contains tens of thousands of Indian glass beads and rumor has it that when it was first made for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the production was responsible for a national shortage of beads!
The underwater tank is 8 meters deep and is the largest underwater filming tank in Europe. It holds half a million gallons of water and can be filtered in three hours. The water is only 50% chlorinated, which allows actors to remove goggles during filming without the water irritating their eyes.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the walls of The Room of Requirement are all mirrored and five chandeliers hang from the roof, which were made at the studio. All of the surfaces, including the windows, are mirrored for an ‘enigmatic quality’. The crew had to wear blue plastic protective overshoes all of the time on this set. Even the cast had to wear them in between takes.
4000-plus pieces of furniture were bought to make up the massive piles of furniture in the Room of Requirement scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
